Manipur gets waste management plant to preserve green cover

In an endeavour to protect and preserve the green cover of northeastern state of Manipur, a solid waste treatment plant has been set up at Lamdeng at Lamdeng in Imphal West.

The plant, set up under a state government initiative, is helping the state manage solid and industrial waste.

The operations of the plant, which will treat, process, recycle and disposing solid waste of Imphal, has been handed to a private agency Eco Care Private Limited.

The plant has been functioning under the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) model since December 15, 2016.

"As of now our end product is only bio compost and in the future we will try to generate power also," said Madhurjit Singh, Plant Project Manager.

Solid waste is the unwanted or useless solid materials generated from human activities in residential, industrial or commercial areas.

Imphal produces 120 tonnes of waste per day and a number of processes are involved in effectively managing this waste. It includes monitoring, collection, transport, processing, recycling and disposal.

Moreover, the end product that is recovered from the waste in the treatment plant is quality oriented bio composes which can be used as manure by farmers.

"The end product of bio compost is being outsourced to one private firm, A1 Agro Company and has been marketed under the brand name of Nongin Bio-Compost. It is quality oriented. Presently we are testing in local village, outcome will be coming soon," Singh said.

The treatment plant is spread across an area of 12 acres. The entire process of waste management includes usage of machineries like the JCB's, tractors and processing and refining machines.

This venture has also helped generate employment opportunities for many in the city. Currently, the plant employs 19 people.

It is worth mentioning that the treatment plant was constructed at a cost of Rs. 4,175 crore and in near future the plant is coming up with a power plant with a target of 1 Megawatt of power by using gas fire.